Reclaiming the Throne: Crystal Void
by DestinySkyDemon
Summary: 5 years before Shu makes his realization that only death could end a king's reign and began the quest to reunite with his queen, Inori was sent to the Void Realm. Separated from her king, she must learn the hardships of war and monarchy with the aid of some allies from both worlds Prequel/spinoff of Reclaiming the Throne by GKOS, meant to delve into what occurred in the Void Realm


**End of the Beginning, Beginning of the End**

"Inori… let's go together." Said a brunette man, his face half covered in crystal, ready to accept what was about to come.

A woman leaned on his left arm, her blind eyes closed, her ravaged body almost completely covered in crystal, her deaf ears receiving none of the words of the man she loved, only the feel of his coat and the warmth of his hand providing comfort for what was to come.

The man raised his crystal right arm to the heavens, lines of green energy flowing through the crystal to carry out the man's will. On his hand appeared a white symbol, one bestowed upon a king, a mark that had changed his life.

With snowflakes falling around the brunette man and the pinkette woman, the Earth soon began to rumble, responding to the last command of the brunette man, no, the brunette king. The crystals that plagued the world began to lift, dissipating into streams of pure silver, all converging at one point. The king looked on with determination as silver streams surrounded him and the queen, both about to make the ultimate sacrifice, the final moments of two tragic lovers.

As crystals began shrouding the bodies of the two lovers, the hearts of his friends appeared before him one last time, reinforcing his will to sacrifice himself, for his friends, for his world. The king finally closed his eyes, the feelings and memories of the world pouring into his vessel, as the final shred of his body is covered in crystal, the crystals that damned the world to suffering, the crystals that damned his queen to suffering. This was about to end, for once and for all.

Within his mind appeared his lover, smiling and in perfect health, extending out her arms with a piece of yarn, a cat's cradle, the very same one she had held to him what seemed like lifetimes ago, a life where he was a different man, before he was a king, before he had suffered.

"Take it." Said his queen, extending her arms with the cradle. The king looked at his queen as he took the cradle, one he had rejected long ago. The pink-haired queen smiled, gently floating back through the space they were in. Silver lines began flowing around her, her body steadily growing farther from the king she loved.

"Inori!" Cried the king as he saw his lover being absorbed by the silvery lines, his eyes wide from the realization of his mistake, his arm outstretched in a desperate attempt to keep hold of his queen.

The next instant his vision filled with a bright light, the crystals that once covered his body shattered. The brunette king stood there, eyes wide in shock, in defeat, for his queen had just sacrificed herself to save the world, to save her dear guilty king, Ouma Shu. He had lost her.

Forever.

Or so he thought.

-RtT:CrystalVoid-

Inori knew her demise was inevitable, that she would sacrifice her broken body for the man she loved, for the world they protected. She had expected pain, she had expected sorrow, she had expected a multitude of things, but most of all...

She expected she would die.

However, as she was tossed around within a floating tempest, she began to properly wonder what the hell was going on. While she had not believed in anything like the afterlife, she had certainly not thought death was going to be an eternity of being thrown around in a tornado out in the middle of nowhere.

After what seemed like ages of being tossed around, all the while Inori in her broken body was attempting to regain any sense of direction, of where she was, the forces that mercilessly played with her body like a ragdoll ceased, and her body eventually coming to a stop. After a few brief moments of just floating in nothingness a steady, unnatural exhaustion was beginning to overtake the pinkette's body, robbing her of whatever energy her broken body had left. As the pinkette was about to finally give in to the drowsiness that had invaded her body, she only had one thought.

"Remember me, Shu, I'll miss you."

With that, the pink-haired queen entered a slumber, her body slowly being encased within a crystal cocoon, the last of her beat, broken body entrapped within the thick crystal shell that shall serve as her resting place for eternity.

-RtT:CrystalVoid-

"Oi girl, wake up, you have slept long enough."

The only thing Inori felt at first was the grogginess. Her arms felt like they weighed as much the whole planet Earth, her legs refusing to respond to her. Her red eyes were locked behind a wall of unmoving eyelids, her mind devoid of any complex thoughts. Instead, a multitude of soft voices filled her head hit endless amounts of chatter, all blurring together in an incomprehensible mess of human noises

The next feeling came moments later in the form of repeated pokings to the head.

"Come on, we don't have all day here miss, though granted we don't know how long a day is here"

After a few moments Inori's mind started to clear up, her body gradually beginning to feel awake and normal. Memories of who she was and what had occurred began coming back, Mana taking over her body, the 4th apocalypse, Gai and the rest of the Undertakers, and most importantly, Shu. Needless to say, Inori bolted up from where she laid, her eyes shooting wide open, her body instantly taking on a trained defensive stance from her time in Undertaker, batting away whatever was poking her.

In front of her stood two men, one armed, one with a baton, presumably the one which had been poking her, the other with only his bare hands. The one wielding a baton was large, approximately two meters tall with a medium build with a dark skin tone, the other medium-sized at about 1 ¾ meters tall, with a similar build to the other, just with a white skin tone. Both stood in a lax, nonchalant stance, not ready for combat. Child's play.

The pinkette readied herself for a quick and easy takedown, but as a precaution she scanned her enemies once more, this time noting the weapon and scanning for any special features. The baton looked standard, colored white with a soft sheen of silver. Wait…

"Where did you get that?" Inori's eyes narrow, her red pupils staring straight into the man's eyes for an answer. The baton the man was holding was no ordinary baton.

It was a void.

"Whoa there girl, calm down, we are not your enemies, we are just here on a recon mission scouting for any newcomers that may have joined us." Answered the shorter companion, who had promptly put his hands next to his head in an attempt to calm Inori down.

"Yeah, we are just here to bring anyone new to our kingdom. My name is Justin, my partner here is Daniel, nice to meet you, miss…."

The pinkette queen just eyed the man suspiciously. After all her experiences with Da-ath and being captured, why in the world would she listen to strangers that in all likelihood were Da-ath agents sent to capture her?

Falling into a habit, Inori quickly went in, before either of the men could react, quickly knocking one of them out and put the other one in a choke hold.

At least, that's how it should've gone. Instead, the pinkette queen overshot, her legs carrying her too far. Before she could react to her own movements and just how quick she was, the one with the void, Daniel, came up and tapped her on the arm with the baton. Her eyes shot open wide as a huge jolt of electricity entered her arm, paralyzing her. Inori fall to the ground, her body buzzing with electricity. The electricity stung, sure, but it was far from lethal from what Inori could tell, judging by the fact she was still awake.

"Shit!" Yelled Inori in her mind, unsure of how she had just overshot and gotten tazed by two easy targets.

"Looks like this one is a feisty one, Justin!" Daniel rolled his shoulders while Justin came up and crouched down in front of Inori, looking her in the eye with a calm and gentle expression, mouth opening to speak.

"Look, miss, sorry we had to taze you, but you have to understand we are not your enemy, we only did that in self-defense. Look, if we wanted to we could up amped up the voltage and knocked you out, but I think you are a smart young woman so please listen. The paralysis should end soon so when it does try to get up and listen, please I don't want to have to knock you out."

As soon as he said that Inori felt the buzz subside, this time deciding to follow along with Justin's request and sat up, not wanting to get knocked out as it would put her in a worse position.

"Alright, thank you, so like I asked before what is your name?" Behind him, Daniel unsummoned his void, and both he and Daniel sat down in front of Inori.

"Inori. Inori Yuzuriha." stated Inori plainly, her face a little disgruntled by the fact she got her ass handed to her.

"Alright Inori, since from your point of view you probably just died to the virus I can understand why you are on edge, we all were, so please calm down first, you are safe, and you are not dead. Since we had so much action when you woke up I don't think you have seen your surroundings yet, so please, look around, I'm here to explain."

Inori raised an eyebrow at his statements, what could he mean by "Safe" and "Not dead", she had died only moments before to the virus, and what did he mean by surroun-

Inori's jaw dropped in surprise as soon as she took a good look around herself. This wasn't the usual laboratory with high tech gadgets trying to dissect her. "Wha-" Above her were a system of long, branch-like crystals, all connecting up at the center, where there was a bigger crystal in the center rooted to the ground. All around them were floating spheres, and when Inori reached out to one that was fist-sized lit up she was met with a surprise. Within the cocoon she held, there was a beat, like a pulse. It was pulsing, again and again, each pulse equidistant from one another, like a heartbeat.

The pinkette shot up to a standing position, looking in wonder at the huge crystal tree that was next to her. Under the tree there appeared to be a big, cracked open cocoon where she had been lying down before, where she had slept.

"Did I hatch from that cocoon!?" asked Inori in surprise and confusion, trying to get a grip on the situation around her.

Justin just simply chuckled and answered. "Yes, we all did, after we were reborn as Genesis into this realm. When one succumbs to the effects of the apocalypse virus, they are sent to a purgatory-like space first, you know the place where you are thrown around like a ragdoll in a typhoon?"

The pinkette thought back to her memories and eventually came to the place Justin was speaking of. "So that's what that place was, I was wondering why I was there… But still, why are we even sent there in the first place?"

"That place is the selection chamber, it separates the strong from the weak, where it decides whether we ascend to a Genesis or die as a human. This tree is a cradle of sorts, where you go after you die as a human by the apocalypse virus or Genesis here. When you die here as a Genesis or ascend, your soul goes here, where the tree will generate a new body for you to use. When you ascend to one of us, you 'Evolve', all of your genes are overhauled so that you are the best you can be, so we are stronger and faster than ever before. If you die here as a Genesis the tree simply regenerates your body and you get reborn." Justin explained, Daniel all the meanwhile just sat there, clearly bored after most likely hearing this a million times over.

"Wow." Whispered Inori, astonished by the revelations… Which answered another question of hers she just had; why were her eyesight, hearing, and body back to top shape? Evolution was no joke.

Inori continued to look around, only to realize that not only the tree was made of crystals, but the entire land as far as the enhanced Genesis' eye could see. The crystals sparkled a myriad of colors, sparkling from the lightest sky blue to the richest and deepest purples, with red as vibrant as that of a real fire or green as green as the lushest of grass. Inori just stared in wonder at this land, her usually inexpressive face radiating pure amazement at her surroundings.

Looking up, Inori saw not the blue sky of the Earth, but a light grey sky that very softly glowed with the same glow emanating from the crystals, tiny sparkles of vibrant colors occasionally peeking through the misty haze of the sky, seeming to suggest that far above the sky were crystals that formed a blanket around the world she currently stood on.

"What is this place? Are these virus crystals?" Asked the pinkette, eyes still sparkling with wonder, the pure amazement could be felt radiating from her essence.

"The nickname we gave this entire world is the 'Void Realm', and yes indeed, everything here is made of virus crystals. Nothing else." Justin explained. "And before you ask, even if there is no food or water, we have no need for those here for whatever reason, our evolution made it so that we are never hungry, thirsty, or sleepy, so no need to worry about those, however, we don't know the reason to why we don't need any of these things."

"Oh, I was just about to ask that." Said Inori, pleasantly surprised. Justin smirked at that comment, after having done this 100+ times he was already aware of what people may ask.

"One last thing," she said, hope brewing in her heart to see if she would get the answer she was thinking of, "How come he had a void? Don't you need a void genome to get that?"

"Void Genome? What's that? As a Genesis you can just pull a void out of your chest, see?" With that, Justin put his hand on his chest, and a familiar looking white glow appeared. Justin's hand then reached deep inside the hole, and after a moment returned, only to reveal that Justin' void was a jetpack.

"Oh, thanks for the information…" The disappointed pinkette queen looked down at the floor, the answer she got not what she had hoped for about a certain brunette king.

Justin' eyes had instantly picked up on the disappointment present in the pinkette queens expression, where her eyes once had a sparkle of wonder it was now replaced by the sad realization of reality, and his ears twitched at the tone of the last statement, one which felt all too mournful, almost as if her hopes for happiness had just evaporated the moment he spoke his sentence.

Taking that as a sign that this was enough exposition, Justin stood up, with Daniel following shortly thereafter his partner. "Here, let's go to our city, you will probably love it just as much as this landscape, it's just as beautiful, if not more."

Justin extended a hand to the pink haired queen, a hand which she decided to take after a few moments. What's the worst that could happen? As she grabbed the hand of the man and secured her grip, he nodded to his partner before lifting off.

Lift off not in the way you would think of like a helicopter slowly rising, no, the lift-off that was more like a missile, one moment her feet are planted on the beautiful crystals that make up the surface, the next she was dangling helplessly from the arm of a man with a missile strapped to his back, feet possibly a hundred meters from the surface. After an instant they stopped, the air that was smashing Into Inori's face like a huge hammer subsiding after they finally made room for her sudden ascent.

Inori had a second or two to look around, and look she did. Next to them was the crystal tree, a crystal that stretched all the way up to the ceiling of this world, its branches spanning a kilometer or so in every direction, with hundreds of cocoons of various sizes floating around the tree, some glowing with the pulse of life, while others sadly with their light drained from them, destined to sleep forever more, like she had once thought she was destined to do. The entire landscape presented itself before her, the large plains of crystal sparkling in a multitude of vibrant colors, the gargantuan mountains that appeared here and there, all connecting to one another in a vast system of ravines and valleys, forming a huge, live landscape under them. To her left and right were massive clusters of crystals, each presenting themselves high above even the biggest of the mountains, second only to the crystal tree. The pink-haired queen looked around, mouth open in awe at this gigantic crystal world that she had just arrived at but moments before. The myriad of colors below her and the glow each and every crystal painted the portrait of a live, breathing world, even with the absence of much else.

Upon further inspection of the cluster, she could see that one of them, the one to her left, had much more character, conforming into some sort of organic crystal castle. As Inori looked even closer, she was able to make out that this particular cluster was hollow, a perfect spot to house hundreds, no, thousands of people at once and still have plenty of space to roam. Around the cluster were hundreds of specks floating and zipping around, which she guessed were people who had voids much like Justin'

"Is that where we are going?" Inori gestured with her head, pointing her head over in the direction of the huge crystal clusters that came to form a castle.

Justin' face grew a smile at this, happy that Inori once more had that shine of wonder in her eyes, the look of despair that had covered her face lifted and gone. "That's right, now hold on tight, I'm going to go fast!"

Before she had time to even respond the jetpacks roared to life once more, the hammer of air that smashed and pushed on her face present once more. The pink-haired queen tightened her grip to hold on for dear life, helplessly trailing behind the man that was a living missile, their arms the only thing saving her from plummeting to her certain doom from hundreds of meters in the air. Below her the once tranquil scene of the multi-colored world began to blur, the colors mixing together due to the sheer speed they were utilizing to shoot across the world. All Inori could do was close her eyes and wait to arrive at their destination, all the meanwhile clinging on to Justin' arm as hard as she could, as her life literally depended on it.

-RtT:CrystalVoid-

After what seemed like an eternity flying at Mach speed, a certain pink-haired queen was beginning to have an identity crisis, was she Inori, or was she actually a missile? Turns out, as her journey at Mach speed began to slow down, she was not, in fact, a missile, but Inori Yuzuriha, formerly of the Undertakers. It took Inori a good moment register all these facts as she slowly opened her eyes after she had finally felt some land at her feet and the missile she was desperately clinging on to release his grip and well as hers.

When Inori opened her eyes she didn't know what to expect. She had half expected a run down city with a feel and quality of one of the Undertaker bases, or maybe a neat and compact city like Tokyo or Roppongi. She had expected a decent city or base, but not this.

In front of her stood not a tight, compact city, but something much more. A giant crystal kingdom presented itself to her eyes, one that was akin to the ones told in fairy tales, a gorgeous fantasy kingdom spanning many, many kilometers, all housed under a crystal cavern. Large, crystal roads laid in front of Inori, with each and every house that lined the road a sight to behold. Every building looked to have been extra carefully carved, the details so ornate and precise that each house looked less like a building meant to be used but instead a piece of art. There were buildings of many shapes and sizes such as schools, churches, taverns, you name it, it is most likely here, but even with these differences, each building was exquisite in its own right, each unique in their own way, each looking as if it had been taken straight from a child's fantasy. The buildings were not the only works of art, however, as directly in front of Inori was a giant crystal fountain, it's height nearly septupling that of her own. From the fountain flowed what seemed like water at first glance, which was odd as there should have been no water in this world, but upon further inspection the "water" was actually hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny specks of crystal, all filled with a blue that mirrored that water so well that if not for her newly bestowed Genesis eyes she would have been fooled to think it was exactly, that, water. In the far back of the city stood the magnificent palace, one made with so much beauty that it put those ancient Greeks everyone praised for their architecture to shame. Compared to the castle, even the most beautiful of the buildings paled in comparison, the level of details and pure grandeur so high it couldn't even be compared to the builds that encompassed it. It was as if this entire kingdom was made from taking every beautiful fantasy kingdom ever thought of and fusing them together, only to then multiply the quality tenfold, and then finally to make it real. Nothing on the whole of planet Earth could compare to the sheer beauty of the architecture in front of her right not. The pinkette queen was at a loss for words, an aura of pure astonishment engulfing her body.

The streets were bustling with hundreds, if not thousands of residents all moving during their daily commute, each one appearing to notice a thing to marvel at while walking. Not only were the streets filled, but up in the sky, many people with voids capable of flying were seen playing games, racing against one another, or just simply admiring the view. The entire city was full of people of many different ethnicities, all currently working in harmony to bring this masterpiece of a grand city to life.

"Told you, you would love this place." Justin just chuckled at the look of pure amazement that was on Inori's face, with her mouth open wide and her eyes sparkling like the very crystals she stood on. "That was what my face looked too, as was the face of everyone I guided here. That face right there is the reason I do this job."

It took what seemed like an eternity for Inori to finally snap out of her trance, her eyes wide as she looked at Justin. "You said just as good as the land, that was a huge understatement!"

Justin could only smile at her statement. "Didn't want to ruin the surprise, though I did say 'If not more' in my statement. Well, I guess you are in the city now, I'll leave you to your own devices to explore. Bye!" Once more Justin rocketed back up with his jetpack, turning and shooting off in the direction they had previously come from.

With that, the pink-haired woman was left to wonder in a city of dreams all on her own, and she was not the least bit happy about that.

-RtT:CrystalVoid-

"Hmph… not again…" A certain lost pinkette began to puff her cheeks in frustration, arriving at the same intersection in the road for the 5th time somehow, each time her frustration growing. With Justin having abandoned her and her not knowing where to go, Inori had been wandering the streets for hours only to keep arriving in the same spot over and over.

"I should really get someone to guide me…" Muttered a less than happy Inori, her arms crossed in front of her and her foot repeatedly tapping against the smooth crystal over and over, cheeks still puffed, frustration emanating off of her like an aura that surrounds her body, causing most people to avoid her.

"What's her issue?" Said a woman passing by, her face showing clear disgust. "And what is that weird outfit she is wearing, is she like a performer or something ugh." From the moment she had woken up in the void realm Inori had been wearing the black and purple dress that Mana had worn while versing Shu in her body, but not having anything else to wear, she was forced to continue wearing the outfit, a fact that had escaped her mind until recently, where it only added to her frustration. She had already removed all the fancy hairdo, however since the main outfit remained her frustration was never resolved.

"Um excuse me, need a hand?" Offered a young, brunette man who had approached Inori. "You look frustrated, are you new around here and lost? If so I can help you get to where you want."

Inori, pleasantly surprised, accepted. "Oh, thank you, do you know where I can get new clothes? I am in a hurry to get rid of my current ones."

The young man smiled a gentle smile as he began leading Inori to the seamstress, which happened to be on the other side of the city where Inori would have most likely never made it. Along the way the young man gave a short tour of the city while walking over there, highlighting the major attractions and the essential shops one would need to know of. Along the way, the pinkette became friends with the young man, when after 10 minutes of walking they arrived at their destination.

"Alright, see you around sometime, and I forgot to ask, what is your name?" The brunette man asked, extending a hand of friendship to a now brightened up Inori.

"Inori Yuzuriha, nice to meet you!" She joyfully answered, happy to make a new friend. "What's your name?"

The brunette man smiled. "Of course, my name is-"

"JUN!" A female voice called from off in the distance, a person steadily running closer towards them.

Inori's head snapped to the figure approaching them from about 100 meters away, observing the figure closely. Something about the voice that had just called out to her new friend sounded very familiar. She looked closer at the person coming towards them, a girl with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a very familiar red uniform of a certain high school. It couldn't be…

"HARE?" Inori exclaimed, running over to greet her friend.

"Wha- INORI?" Hare froze in place, her eyes wide at seeing her friend here as a fellow Genesis. After she had died in order to save Shu, Hare was reborn as a Genesis, only to arrive and not find anyone who she knew, which had made her quite sad until she became friends with Jun.

Inori ran up to Hare as fast as she could, which happened to actually be too fast as she ended up tackling Hare to the ground in an attempt to hug her. The two girls fell to the ground, laughing and hugging each other like there was no tomorrow.

The pinkette queen hugged her dear friend close to the chest, her face lit with joy from reuniting with someone she knew. "Hare I missed you, how have you been? It has been so long!"

"I have been good Inori, I made some new friends here like Jun, but I missed you all so much!" Replied Hare, just as joyful as Inori. They both sat up, dusting off dirt from their clothes. "How have you been? Where is Shu?"

Hare instantly regretted that question as soon as it came out, as almost instantly her friend's joy was replaced by a sad smile, one built from sad yet fond memories of a past life.

"Inori I am so sor-" She attempted to apologize, but before she could her friend stopped her.

"No Hare, it's fine..." Said Inori in a soft voice as she shook her head "I died during the fourth apocalypse after I sacrificed myself so that the apocalypse virus would be gone for good, but most importantly to give Shu a chance to live. Shu should be fine right now, just hurt over what I did, but I don't regret doing it if it is for Shu."

Inori wiped a tear that had come to her eye as she spoke the words, her eyes gazing at the crystals they now sat on, the same crystals that had sent them here and caused them so much pain and suffering.

Hare gently lifted up her friend's head, her friend's eyes gradually making their way up to her eyes. Once they met, Hare spoke, her face the same as Inori's, eyes full of understanding.

"I feel the same Inori, I would do anything for Shu, even give my life for him like I did in Loop 7. Inori, I know what you are feeling, you are not alone." Hare smiled a sad, gentle smile. Tears rolled down Inori's cheeks as she hugged Hare, her once empty heart filled with many emotions, all swirling and mixing with each other.

"I missed you Hare. We all did." murmured the pinkette queen over her friend's shoulder.

"I know Inori, I missed you all too." The healer softly whispered, comforting the friend in her arms, the friend that had sacrificed so much possibly just hours before.

Gradually, Inori got up, wiping the tears from her tear stained cheeks, extending her other hand to her friend. Her friend took hold, and after what had seemed like an eternity apart they were finally back together, standing face to face once more as they had done in the past. They stood there for a moment, looking at one another before they eventually began walking back towards the place the pinkette had come from.

-RtT:CrystalVoid-

When they got arrived Inori could see the smiling young man standing there, waiting for them. She quickly performed a bow and apologized.

"Sorry, I got excited after seeing a friend, what was your name?"

"Ah no worries, my name is Jun Samukawa, you can call me Jun." The young man happily answered, all the meanwhile Inori felt something familiar to Jun's name. Samukawa… where had she heard that name before...

Inori's eyes once again lit up with surprise, her eyes wide at the potential realization. "Are you Yahiro's brother?"

It was the young Samukawa's turn to be surprised, his eyes opening as wide as his Genesis body could allow. "You know my older brother?"

Behind Inori, the brunette healer had the same reaction. "Wait, you're Yahiro's brother?"

Inori tilted her head at this, seeing as Hare and Jun had already known each other, judging by the fact Hare had come running up to them earlier yelling his name. "You didn't know?"

"Um, well, I guess I never made the connection, I didn't know he had a brother." The healer facepalmed, shaking her head in amazement at how she could miss such an obvious connection seeing as she had been friends with Yahiro.

"You know him too?" Jun surprise only deepened as he stared at his best friend inside the void realm, mouth gaping wide open.

The brunette healer softly chuckled at this question. "Well, both Inori and I were in the same class as him in high school, we were actually all good friends." Inori just simply nodded in agreement with Hare's statement.

"Wow, I never knew much about my brother's life, could you tell me more about him?" Jun's shock at the two girls knowing his brother had subsided, in its place a manifesting a curiosity clearly visible on his face. His eagerness to learn about his brother was then followed by him remembering the reason he was here, so before either of the girls could respond he quickly added: "But first let's let Inori do what she came here for."

The trio proceeded to walk over to the seamstress, where after what seemed like a few minutes Inori was fitted with a simple black slip dress with two red perpendicular lines in front that formed a cross and a bow on the left side of the cross and a set of black knee-high boots with the help of a woman with a void that was a sewing machine that made whatever she specified in her mind. As the trio exited the building they were met with an odd sight, crowds of people all running towards the castle, followed by mostly ecstatic shouts of many Genesis.

"She's awake! Hurry!"

"OMG REALLY? Guys lets go!"

"Been long enough, let's see how she is doing."

The young Samukawa brother quickly ran up to a runner to check on what was happening. "Excuse me, can you tell me what is going on, why is everyone running towards the castle?"

"You don't know? It was just recently announced that our queen has finally woken up and is about to explain what happened! Hurry, we don't want to miss it!"

The two girls just stood behind Jun, the pinkette just tilting her head in confusion at what was going on. She looked at her friend for answers. "Hare, who this queen is? What do they mean by 'Woken up'?"

"I'm not sure, but apparently the queen here that ruled this place has been asleep for a long time, even before I got here, and everyone was worried and wondering what was happening to her. Well, the older Genesis at least. I believe her name was Mana or something…"

Inori's heart skipped a beat.

Mana, the mere mention of her name seeming to trigger something in Inori's psyche, a trained fear from the time when Mana had inhabited her body. Her breathing grew to a heavy pant, her body involuntarily beginning to shake, accidentally taking a step backward in the process.

"Inori? What's happening, are you ok!?" Hare looked worryingly at her friend, extending an arm in an attempt to try to comfort her.

The pinkette clenched her fist hard, so hard to the point her hand turned pure white. "Mana…" She muttered. "She caused all of this."

Hare's worry was now mixed with confusion and shock at the claim her friend had just made. "Wha- What do you mean she caused all of this?"

"Mana was the person who spread the virus, the person who took over took over my body and harmed Shu, harmed all of us!" Inori clutched her heart, her heart beating so fast it would burst. Hare's eyes widened at what her friend had just said. All the pain she had to go through, all the pain Shu and Inori had to go through, all the suffering the entire world experienced, all the death, all caused by this one person.

"But… we don't know if this is the same person, do we? She might be a different person with the same name." The healer grabbed onto the hand of the queen, holding on tightly.

"Please Inori, breath, think about this, how could a person that bad rule over this place?" Behind her Jun approached, having heard everything and attempting to calm his friend down.

Inori closed her eyes, and gradually her breathing slowed down to what it was before, her body's shaking stopping. Color began returning to her, and after a minute she seemed back to normal.

"You're right Jun, it's probably just a person who shares her name." Inori released her grip on her heart. Both Hare and Jun breathed a sigh of relief that Inori was back normal, Hare releasing her hand. However, even with her friend's reassurance, even with her body returning to normal, somewhere, deep in her mind, Inori feared that Mana would come back and take over her body once more, robbing her of her free will again like she had done not too long before. Inori shook her head at this, but just in case…

"Let's go to the palace." She said. Her friend's eyes jumping open as she said this.

"Are you sure about this Inori?" Asked a worried Jun.

"Yeah, even if it isn't the same Mana I want to check with my own eyes." Was all she said as a reply. Both of her companions closed their eyes, and after a moment they both nodded in agreement.

"Alright," Said Jun, "Let's go."

-RtT:CrystalVoid-

Following a brief period of sprinting towards the palace like everyone else, Inori, Hare, and Jun all arrived to find that the courtyard, while colossal in size, much like the rest of the palace, was full, every inch of it packed with what seemed to be the entire population that inhabited this kingdom. The aura surrounding the entire courtyard was energetic, many of the Genesis excited to finally hear from their queen once again after a long time. Above them was a balcony, one which most likely held the single best view of the entire kingdom, overlooking the courtyard and the magnificent kingdom as a whole.

The brunette healer and the younger Samukawa, the courtyard itself almost completely overshadowing where they had been before, it's appearance so exquisite that both began to question whether or not they were dreaming.

"Wow, this is so beautiful, I've never been here before!" Hare continued to marvel at the beauty of where she stood.

"Me too, I really should visit here more often." Replied Jun, equally as engrossed in the architecture as Hare.

The pinkette, on the other hand, just stood there, eyes locked onto the balcony as a bead of cold sweat dripped down the side of her forehead, her mind bracing itself for what may come.

Their amazement was cut short as the entire courtyard silenced, every person looking up at the balcony as a figure could be seen stepping on to the balcony.

Inori's heart stopped. There, right in front of her, stood the one person who had dragged her life to hell, the person who had unleashed the apocalypse virus, the one who had plunged the world into suffering. The one who had hurt Shu. Inori's suspicions had been confirmed.

There, atop the balcony that overlooked the entire kingdom, stood Mana Ouma, ready to make an announcement.

"Ahm" Mana cleared her throat, her body not looking in the best of shape. Mana's skin was pale, her red eyes bloodshot, tear stains lining her cheeks, her pink hair showing signs that they were tangled until recently. Overall, she looked tired and bit depressed, a fact she tried to hide when she put on a smile that had most likely been trained, which looked convincing enough to fool most people except the most attentive, one of which happens to be Inori as her eyes were locked onto Mana.

Once more the pinkette's hands curled up into rock-solid fists, her body starting to shake. Her friends seemed to notice this, each exchanging a look of worry to one another before grabbing their friend's hands and holding them tight, attempting to comfort her as best they could.

"Let's go." Jun quickly said, leading the way to and pulling Inori and Hare with him. Her vision snapped away from Mana and focused instead on the exit of the stadium, her legs beginning to finally move to follow Jun.

At this point, Mana began to speak, a slightly hoarse voice exiting her own, either from crying or her slumber no one knew. "I am back everyone."

The trio was hastily making their way to the exit and had almost reached it when they bumped into a Genesis that stood in their way.

"Hey, where are you going? Queen Mana is making an announcement you know, pay attention!"

This caused other Genesis to begin looking their way to see what the commotion was about, Meanwhile, Mana's voice could still be heard from atop the balcony she stood, her voice seeming to be amplified from an unknown source. "It is good to see you all again and I am very sorry for leaving you for so long. My sleep was deep, my dreams heavy. I am still slightly tired but I promise I shall be there for you again. Please lend me your strength once more so our kingdom can continue to prosper, thank you."

An immense applause erupted from most of the Genesis inside the stadium, and after a short bow, Mana turned to leave when the corner of her eye caught something strange, a group of three seeming to be in a hurry to leave and in their way a man stood, blocking their path. More and more people could be seen looking at the area, so she halted and decided to get a closer look. Upon closer inspection, she couldn't believe what she saw, as within that group of three stood a very familiar pinkette.

-RtT:CrystalVoid-

Mana's face contorted with rage, her once calm and kind demeanor disintegrating into a look of pure rage, her blood beginning to boil. A silver circle appeared upon her chest, and before anyone could understand what had happened to their queen, she plunged her arm into the void upon her chest, extracting the Dancer Sword, a void that was identical to Inori's Singer Sword in all but color, where it held a darker complexion.

"INORIIIII!" Screamed Mana, who in a fit of rage jumped clean off the balcony, wielding her void in her hands. Every Genesis made way for their queen, most of them scared and confused at their queen's actions.

Inori whipped around, only to see the incarnation of rage and hatred rampage towards her. At that moment, she froze, her fear paralyzing her in place. Time stopped for Inori as all the events that had lead to her death played in her mind, her fear and later acceptance of who she was, a monster, who she later found out was not truly her but Mana inhabiting her body all along, her loss of freedom at the hands of Gai, Mana, and all of Da-ath, and finally her sacrifice to save the man she loved, Shu. With the face of her lover once more in her mind, one question engulfed her mind. What would Shu do? She quickly arrived at the answer. Fight. Stand tall, and fight.

With her courage swelling, Inori quickly shook off the hands of her friends, and shortly thereafter a silver glow appeared upon her chest, a familiar glow in which her king had used to draw out her void, her innermost self. Inori plunged her arm into the glowing abyss, a very familiar feeling spreading throughout her body of her void being extracted. Moments later, a monumental blade, one that easily tripled her size appeared in her hand, one with the exact same shape and size as Mana's Dancer Sword. All the Genesis around her stood in awe as Inori took hold of her void, the Singers Sword, and charged forth to confront Mana, mirroring the actions that her king once performed with the blade of his queen.

The two blades met with a thundering clash, both Inori and Mana eyeing one another, one with a look of pure hatred and disdain, the other purely analytical. Each stood their ground, their foundations unmovable, like a mountain trying to knock over another mountain. The two pinkette queens broke the stalemate, each taking a quick jump back and surveying the strengths of their opponent. Mana attacked first, lunging towards her nemesis with her blade in the lead, while Inori just used her Undertaker training to turn and sidestep her opponent's attack by the skin of her teeth. Inori kept her blade out horizontally in the path where her opponent's head was moving, but before it could connect with her head it was deflected by mana by lifting her blade, just in the nick of time. Using the momentum of her previous lunge or carry her, the mad queen dug her foot in and turned, blade by her side, and once more launched at the opposing queen, unleashing a frenzy of attacks. All the meanwhile the spectators looked on, no one daring to interfere with the match of the two opposing queens, all stepping away to form a ring for which the two pinkettes fought.

Mana kept on attacking like a mad dog, slashing and stabbing at her opponent at every opportunity, while Inori just gracefully sidestepped or deflected every blow, her movements resembling that of a dancer. However, it wasn't just her skilled that allowed Inori to evade, as she soon realized that Mana's movements were sluggish compared to how she normally moved, her long slumber most likely having taken its toll.

"Grrrrr..." Mana growled in frustration as her attacks continued to fail to connect. "What's wrong?" She taunted. "Why don't you stop running like a scaredy cat and fight me? Too afraid you will be shredded to pieces?"

Inori continued to dance around Mana's attacks, her taunts having no effect on her whatsoever. Every passing second the latter unleashed a torrent of slices and stabs, the former expertly evading all of them. However, as the mad queen continued to unleash her barrage of attacks, one managed to connect.

Inori's expression changed from that of cold focus to one of shock as Mana swung at her head, the former lifting her blade a fraction of a second too slow, barely managing to deflect the lethal blow as the Dancer Sword contacted the Singer Sword at a tricky angle, the power of the blow combined with the angle twisting the gargantuan void of out of the wielder's hands. The Singer Sword hadn't even managed to contact the ground when it vanished into a vast array of silver threads, each returning to their rightful owner. Mana sensed her opportunity, lunging at full strength straight towards her helpless opponent, blade aimed towards her heart.

Falling right into Inori's trap.

Mana had overextended, leaving her off balanced, and most importantly, vulnerable. Inori once more twisted out of the deadly blade's reach, only this time her arm extended, smashing clean into the face of the mad queen, the high momentum of her lunge only serving to further her impact into the fist. A loud crunch could be heard as Mana's nose shattered upon contact, her teeth not faring much better.

Mana fell to the ground clutching her nose and mouth, screaming and groveling in agony as a blood-wrenching pain spread like wildfire through her face, in the process dropping and unsummoning her respective void also. The triumphant queen took a moment to catch her breath, after a moment proceeding to summon her void and poise it directly atop the chest of the mad queen, ready to strike her down.

Inori looked down at Mana, her face stone cold at the retribution was about to happen. She almost felt pity for her. Almost.

"For Shu." Inori simply stated.

The triumphant queen closed her eyes, not wishing to see what was about to happen, lifting her blade up high above her head, the Singer Sword glistening in the glows of the crystals that surround her every direction. The blade rested for a moment at the apex of its path, before it was swiftly brought down in one fell swoop. A crack could be heard the moment the blade made contact with something, but as Inori opened her eyes what she saw was not what she expected.

In front of Inori was not the corpse of Mana, no, as she was very well alive, her arm raised towards Inori as what seemed like a crystal bubble covered her entire body, the Singer Sword lodged atop the crystalline dome.

"Wha-" Inori stammered, perplexed as to what was going on. However, in her second of hesitation, Mana gestured with her hand, balling it up into a fist, and before Inori could react crystal walls all shot up around her in a circle, all angled in towards her body, each one stopping right when it touched her neck, forming a cone that encompassed her entire body except for her head and her one arm that held the Singer Sword, completely restraining her movement. All the pinkette could do was try to wiggle to no avail, her movements besides her head and the forearm of her right arm which held her void completely nullified.

Mana waved her arm, and just like that the crystals that had formed a dome around her retracted back into the floor of the courtyard, nothing seeming out of place except the cone that captured Inori. Mana stood up, face still bleeding, and quickly gestured for a blonde haired girl to come, of which she did, summoning a void that appeared in the shape of a needle, quickly injecting it into Mana's arm and pushing in the plunger. Silver lines much like the ones that formed voids began circling and swirling around her, engulfing her in a soft, white glow before finally stopping after a few seconds, revealing a Mana whose nose and teeth were not shattered. Mana then made another gesture with her hand, signaling to the healer to leave, which she promptly did, all the meanwhile no other genesis in the crowd, save for Hare and Jun, even breathing a word, all confused at what had just transpired with their kind, beloved queen going berserk.

"Inori!" Her friends cried, both attempting to run over to assist their friend, only to both be restrained by some of Mana's guards. Seeing this, Mana gestured with both of her arms, raising them up and meeting them in the middle. As soon as she started her gesture, crystals extended from the ground, mirroring the movements of her arms to create a dome around the two pinkettes.

"There, now no one can interfere." Mana lowered her arms, a malicious smile growing from ear to ear as she eyed down her nemesis. Outside the dome, Inori could see her friends struggling with their captors, attempting to break free with no success.

Mana slowly stepped closer and closer to Inori, all the while her smile continued growing. She stopped right at the tip of the Singer Sword, the tip of the blade a hair from reaching her.

"Let's get you into a position more befitting of you, shall we? While we are at it, let's get that weapon out of your hand, dolls shouldn't be dangerous to play with." Mana crowed, this time repeatedly tapping her foot. By that simple repeated action of just tapping her toes, the crystals restraining Inori began to shift, with crystals wrapping themselves around each of her wrists while crystal chains formed with them, attaching to two poles on either side of her, knocking the Singer Sword out of her grasp, while on her legs crystal sprouted from the ground, shackling her legs as she was brought to a kneeling position. The rest of the crystals that originally formed the cone retreated back into the ground, leaving an Inori whose legs were bound to the ground, whose hands were restrained on either side of her with her wrists in chains, bound to two poles that kept her arms parallel to the ground.

"There, much better. So befitting of a puppet to be manipulated by its master, isn't it?" Mana taunted, her face lit up with pure, twisted delight at the sight of her nemesis bound up in chains.

"How are you doing this?" Inori demanded as she continued to struggle, wiggling herself around, trying to loosen the shackles on her wrist, the only thing she managed to do was to make the chains that bound her arms jingle and clank around.

Mana only scoffed, clearly loving the sight of Inori uselessly struggling in chains. "Look at you, A defeated dog, demanding answers from me" She taunted, stepping in closer, bending her back so she was face to face with Inori. "But fine! Allow me to enlighten you on how much superior I am compared to a fake like you. This is the power of Eve, the rightful queen of this world and the Genesis that inhabit it." Boasted Mana, her cockiness, and pride emanating from her body as she spoke.

"Eves bend crystals to their will, commanding them to do whatever we so choose," She explained, lifting up her and in a display of ability as crystal shards began to crystallize out of thin air, dancing around her fingertips one her fingertips before she snapped her fingers and they disappeared. "Something a fake like you can't hope to do."

As she finished her demonstration, Mana stepped back, once more thriving in Inori's struggle, a sadistic smile continuing to encompass her face. "You know, a queen like me can't let an imposter like you run free can I?" Mana raised her arm once more, much to Inori's horror, as a crystal shard the size of a football appeared floating in her hands. Seeing this, Inori jerked and twisted her body as hard as she could, the crystal bindings holding her in place even as the chains continued to clank, her wrists sore as the crystal bindings continued to dig in the more she struggled.

"Damnit!" Inori shouted, grinding her teeth as hard as she could as she kept pulling at the chains that restrained her in a futile attempt to move. Outside, Hare and Jun could only watch in horror as their friend was about to be executed, a crystal wall separating them from her, along with the immovable guards that held them down. Every Genesis stood in shock at the actions of their queen, having never seen their kind, gentle queen act like the way she was now, preparing to execute someone out of the blue.

"What's happening with her! Is she crazy?"

"I can't watch this!"

"Let's get away from here!"

"Too bad this won't end you for good," Mana stated bitterly, a look of disappointment replacing the sadistic smile from before. "At least this will give me the satisfaction of killing you once and you will finally learn just how inferior you are."

Inori desperately continued to try to shake off her chains to no avail, the crystals shackling her wrists and legs more solid than steel. The crystal shard that floated above Mana's hand began to spin, its speed increasing higher and higher, the air around it beginning to spin around with the shard, causing a whirring sound to fill the crystal dome. Mana once again adopted her sadistic grin as she stared at her helpless enemy, two last words exiting her wicked mouth.

"Bye-bye!" She chirped in a playful tone as she brought her arm down towards Inori, the crystal following the command of its master, rocketing towards its target, ripping through the air in seconds.

Then it happened.

In the face of imminent death, something in Inori changed. Within Inori's eyes, a glow of deep crimson emerged, expanding to cover her eyes completely. From Inori's perspective, time had slowed to a crawl, and one thing had changed. She had begun to see many weird symbols inside every crystal around her, including the one hurling at the face at the moment. Her mind focused solely on the crystal shard, and doing so she did she began to feel something from the crystal, a feeling, almost like the crystal was resonating with her mind. The characters within the crystal grew clearer, presenting her with a vast array of weird jumbles of shapes that somehow made sense to Inori.

The text was like a form of programming, a detailed set of instructions that Mana had most likely set in order for the crystal to form, spin, then launch at her head with the intention of executing her. Inori's mind acted on instinct, reaching out to the crystal that still headed for her face. Before she realized what was happening, the crystal had stopped short of her head by a hair, the next instant disintegrating into nothingness. When Inori finally came back to her senses, all she could see was the shocked look on Mana's face.

"What. Did. You. Just. Do." Mana growled. Mana didn't wait for answers as she raised her arm once more, however, this time summoning not one, but ten crystals that were exactly like the one she had just sent flying towards Inori's head. She didn't wait this time, instantly pointing her arm at Inori, sending the crystals hurtling at her all at once.

Once more Inori's eyes glowed red, this time all the crystals shattering mid-air before they even got halfway to her. She tried to stand up, only to be denied by the shackles that still held her, so the pinkettte examined the crystal shackles that bound her, reading the code inside, and overrode it. Instantly the shackles that bound her crumbled to nothingness, Inori, still red-eyed, standing up as she looked at her opponent.

Mana once more attacked Inori with crystals, this time stomping her leg, sending spikes that rose from the ground in a straight line towards her opponent. Inori just walked forward, unfazed by the attack, the spikes that were approaching her retreating to the ground of which they came. In one swift motion, Inori swung her arm upwards at Mana, and before the enemy queen knew it three pillars of crystal shot out of the ground in front of her, smashing into her as she was knocked back into the wall of her dome, collapsing as her body fell to the ground from the sheer force of the impact.

"Uuggghhhhhh." Groaned Mana, the force of the collision still reverberating throughout her body. Inori walked up to Mana, along the bringing down the crystal domes that surrounded them before her eyes finally ceased to glow, the code inside the crystals disappearing from her vision, stopping right at her foe's head. The grounded queen struggled as she tried to get up, collapsing back down to the ground. All she could manage was angling her head so she could see Inori, her eyes brimming with hate and malice that she could not express due to her current condition.

Inori stood above the enemy queen, her body refusing to respond in its pitiful state. Inori turned, eyeing down the two guards that held down her friends.

"Release them now, for your own good." She commanded, taking three steps towards the guards. The two guards hurryingly got up, slowing backing away, both wisely fearing for their lives. Hare and Jun got up, both wide-eyed and speechless at her previous display of power and authority, power that only an Eve could have. However, their eyes quickly switched from awe to panic.

"WATCH OUT!" They shouted in unison as a badly injured Mana finally managed to get up, wielding a crystal dagger she had just summoned as a weapon.

"DIE!" Mana shouted, charging at Inori with the dagger in the lead.

Inori didn't even need to bat the queen an eyelid as she calmly and efficiently sidestepped her attack, whipping around, disarming and pinning Mana to the ground in one single move, not that it had really mattered as she had used up all of her strength in that last failure of an attack.

"I pity you, Mana. You became this way because of the fact Shu chose me and not you, a fact which I feel sorry about." Inori kept Mana pinned as the latter's anger skyrocketed at what she had just said, continuing on with her speech. "However, I will not let all of your actions against both me and Shu go just because of that, so consider this your punishment. I spare you so that you will live on with the humiliation of this defeat haunting you forever, the fact that I could have taken your life at this moment a shame you will forever live with."

Mana was furious, violently trying to shake off Inori's expert hold in any way possible.

"GUARDS!" She shouted, "ARREST THIS BITCH AT ONCE!"

The guards did no such thing, all standing still, nervously looking at Inori with looks of terror, knowing full well what will happen if they tried to intervene.

"COWARDS!" Mana shouted, her anger so potent that many blood vessels on her face could be heard bursting, her face turning as red as blood. Inori got up, a defeated and exhausted Mana under her, and began walking away. The crowd of Genesis parted as she walked, daring not to get in her way. The man that had blocked her pathway before ran off, scared shitless at what might happen to him. Hare and Jun quickly followed suit, quickly standing next to their friend, no, their new queen. Then, something odd happened. A small group of Genesis began to follow them, then another, and another, and soon about a hundred genesis were trailing the trio as they left the stadium.

"WHOEVER FOLLOWS THAT BITCH IS BANISHED FROM THIS CITY FOREVER ALONG WITH HER!" Shouted Mana, causing a good amount of the people trailing her to stop in their tracks.

Inori continued to walk away, her friends and about fifty others followed, unfazed by their banishment. They had a new queen now, Inori, and it wasn't like they were going to come back anyway. As the group exited the gates of the magnificent city they noticed something was off, and as they turned they saw that the once beautiful crystals had turned a dark purple, the aura of happiness and wonder replaced by one of pure malice emitting from the crystals. Inori continued her stride, unfazed about anything, the group eventually catching up with her.

They were about to make a new kingdom, one with a new queen, Inori Yuzuriha.


End file.
